Tale of the Syndicate
by Radical Ed
Summary: The progression of Spike's life until he met Jet...


A little boy with short, tossled hair wandered along the shelves of the small drug store. The sun shone brightly on Annie's that day. "Can I buy this?"

"Of course. It's nice to see you again, Spike. Isn't today your birthday?"

"Yeah. Thanks, here's 11 woolongs. That's enough, right?"

Annie looked at the 30 woolongs in candy, and back at the 8-year-old Spike. "It's fine. You go tell your parents hello for me, okay?"

"'K, see ya," Spike said as he stuffed the candy in his pocket and ran home.

It was his birthday, and he wanted to see if he'd gotten something. He ran through an old building, his favorite shortcut, and burst through the back door. He stopped dead in his tracks.

He was staring down the barrel of s gun. He heard the cocking of a half-dozen triggers. "Hold. This is one of the children." A young man, probably in his thirties, walked up to Spike. "Please come with us."

"I wanna go home! Who are you?" Spike asked.

"I am Mao Yenrai. Don't worry, I'll help you get home." He turned to the other men. "Get back to work. This child will be taken care of." As Mao led him away, Spike saw a man in a suit, covered in blood, lying with his arms outstretched.

Outside the fenced are, a man walked up to Mao. "Sir, the Faithless Hope syndicate has been eliminated. The last of their men were in there." He looked down at Spike. "Who's the kid?"

"One of the survivors. Did they spare any families?"

He paused and lowered his gaze to his shoes. "No, sir, they were all killed. The Faithless Hope murdered them on sight."

Mao knelt down to Spike. "I'm afraid your family is gone. I'm sorry. But I will help you survive."

Spike was lost in his thoughts, and blindly followed Mao. They got into a car, and drove to a building on the other side of town. After getting out, they walked flight after flight of stairs to a single hallway. "This is my office." The guards began to back away.

The door behind them opened slowly. "Sir, we found this young man in the target district." Spike turned around and saw a boy about his age, dressed in ragged clothing. "We believe he's been living on the streets for years, but… We don't need witnesses."

"I will raise him, don't worry," he said as he turned to the newcomer. "What's your name?"

"I… I'm Vicious," he said, gaining confidence. He began to stare at Spike, and when Spike looked at his face, he saw a deep, cold emptiness in his eyes.

"I will train you two to fight, and to survive in this life," Mao said.

As their first eight years of training passed, Spike and Vicious learned one underlying premise-the mission was their life. Failure was death. They became masters of their trade, murderers who left no tracks, submersing themselves in crowds to hide. They were taught to survive. Today they would be tested on their skills, in their premier solo mission.

All information gathered was put on the table. The numbers, location, what the measure of completion was. What they were to return with. It was of minimal importance, so failure affected only these two. They stood in Mao's office for one last briefing.

"Remember that you return with the foundation map," Mao said. It was the only objective.

"Of course, sir," Spike and Vicious answered together.

"Are you prepared to leave?"

"Yes, sir, entirely," they answered.

"Then return when you have succeeded."

Spike and Vicious ran to the stairs, taking them three at a time. They reached the bottom floor and ran out of the building, headed for their objective. Two blocks away, a rival syndicate held the plans for one of their buildings. The plans could be taken back easily enough by elite troops, even after a complete failure of this mission.

They stepped up to the stoop of the building. Spike pulled a small package from his coat and placed it next to the door. The pair backed across the street. As the minutes passed, they went over their plan again. The package exploded. It was time to begin.

The pair ran into the building and took two guards out immediately. They ran up opposite flights of stairs to the second story, shooting down three men each along the way. They reached the upper corridor, and met a group of five soldiers.

Spike stepped back and shot down three, while Vicious ran towards them, unsheathed his sword, and cut down the last two. Shoulder to shoulder, they walked into the final room.

They took out the entire guard without a fight. Finally, the boss kneeled at their feet, begging for his life.

"The mission is life. Failure is death. You have failed your mission," Vicious said. He put his sword to the man's throat and, with a deft twist, ended his life.

"We did it. Let's take the plans and leave," Spike said. They grabbed all of the sheets and left.

When they arrived at Mao's office, they found him behind his desk, wearing a wide smile. "Congratulations," he said as he gave them each a gift. It was a patch showing the insignia of the Red Dragon Syndicate. They had accomplished their training. Now the war would begin.

Mission after mission was completed, and for ten years, Spike and Vicious grew in recognition and ability. They were now commanded directly by the highest members, including the elders themselves.

Vicious had left on a trip from the syndicate. On rare occasions, he would find select spots around town to visit, and disappear for a couple hours at a time. Hours spent purchasing weapons, or just at a bar. Unlike Spike, who also made trips around town for the sake of a search for an ideal contentment, Vicious only desired contacts.

Vicious walked into the bar and sat on a stool, waiting for his order to be taken. "Hey, pal, you think you so betta then me?" an unsteady voice asked. A hand gripped his shoulder and attempted to pull him around.

"Release me."

"Or what, you gonna kill me?" he said, raising his voice. "Right, guys?"

"Yeah, sure man," members of the crowd answered.

"Fight me like a man, punk," the drunk yelled.

"I suggest you let me be, or prepare to face the consequences."

"D… Dammit! Yer no betta 'en me!" the drunk screamed as he swung a punch at Vicious' head.

One that a woman caught easily before dropping him with a fist that broke his jaw. She sat down next to him, and when he saw her, he noticed that she was a beautiful blonde. "Can I buy you a drink?" she asked.

"When I drink, I buy it myself."

She smiled. "You must be new to this. Usually you accept the offer and ask their name."

"Well, I have no use for 'this.' But I must say that you're… radiant. An angel. Who are you?"

"Not original, but an impressive improvement. I'm Julia. You are?"

"Vicious."

She let out a laugh that caught the attention of everyone nearby. "No need for a background check."

Vicious looked down at the bar. "It's my name."

"Oh, great, middle name garbage again," she said laughingly.

"You go through this often?"

"Definitely."

"Not like mine. Trust me, I'm probably a bit different."

"This is too rich." She looked around and saw the jealous stares on many men's faces and a couple of women's. "Let's skip the drinks. Follow me… You can tell me about why you're different." They left the bar, one after the other.

The next day, Spike found Vicious in the building that they used as their private base of operations. An abandoned old building with a fenced in backyard that had a few bloodspots. They used it for talking and preparing for missions. "Where were you? I just got an assignment to an insane mission in 30 days, and you…"

Vicious looked him in the eye and gave a smile that looked out of place in his visage. "I met an angel."

Spike looked hard at him, stunned.

The 30 days passed to Spike leaving on his mission. He wandered about town, tracking down information on every person who would be there. All of his regular contacts didn't have any information to offer on the current situation, but the syndicate had given him basic information. He would infiltrate their headquarters, a church, and attempt to kill their leader. That was his only objective.

He would leave shortly. He was sitting, going over his plans and weapons, when Vicious walked in. "This is going to prove to be a suicide mission," Spike said.

"I know. I'm surprised you decided to accept it."

"You talked to the elders."

"Yes. It was on a volunteer basis only for men of our rank. Why?"

"I didn't want to see some green troop messing this one up. Their leader killed a valued member of our syndicate."

"I know. Tell me, Spike, why did you take this mission?"

"He killed some of my valued contacts. He murdered them without fear of retribution An incredibly sad mistake." Spike looked at his watch. "I may as well leave now. No point putting this one off."

"Try to come back alive."

Spike looked at Vicious, shot a quick smirk at him, and left for his mission.

A few minutes walking brought Spike to the church. He pulled to guns out from the folds of his cloak, cocked the triggers, and broke through the main door.

Into the line of sight of three snipers and five guards. He began to run to the side, under a hail of weapons fire. He shot two of the guards, leaving them dead, and took a bullet in the shoulder. He reached a post, replaced one of the ammo clicks, and ran along the wall, firing at the guards, on his way to the stair case. The last three went down.

At the foot of the staircase, he pulled a small grenade out and pulled the key off. He waited two seconds, meanwhile placing the best position to kill the most snipers, and threw the grenade between two of them while shooting the third. "That takes out the initial welcoming party," he muttered.

Gunfire erupted from the top of the staircase, drawing his attention back to his mission. He caught two shots in his right arm and a third in his left side. He managed to gun down this last person. He dropped his guns, figuring they must be nearly empty now, and took another grenade and a last gun in his left hand, stumbling up the stairs.

He finally reached the top, finding ten last people. He took the last grenade, pulled the key, and threw it at the group, shooting down three men. He ran towards them, and was hit time and time again. He was covered in blood when a last shot pushed him through the stained glass window, shattering it. As he fell, he saw the explosion erupt from inside the room. He closed his eyes, welcoming death.

He heard a beautiful melody… Slowly, he opened his eyes, trying to find out where he was. He saw a brilliantly bright light. "I'm dead. This must be heaven. How'd I get here?" Spike tried to laugh, and received a sharp pain in his chest for the effort. "I didn't think I could hurt when I died."

"Why do you think you're dead?" a woman asked.

"Because I couldn't have survived that."

"Why do you think you're in heaven?"

"I thought I heard the voice of an angel."

"You're the second person to tell me that. I think I'm flattered. You aren't dead… I managed to rescue you. A doctor came by, gave me some medication for you, and I've been nursing you." She pulled a chair over and sat next to Spike.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Julia."

"How long have I been out?"

"For about a week. I'm amazed you recovered at all, but I'm glad I was wrong."

"A week? They're searching for me by now…"

"Who?"

"Some friends. Am I in shape enough to leave yet?"

"Yes. If you want…"

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to get you involved. Can I use your phone? I promise, I'll come again."

"Of course. If it's so important." Julia got up and grabbed the phone, bringing it to Spike. "Do you need me to dial?"

"No, let me…" Spike took the phone, dialed Mao's office, and waited through two rings.

"Hello, this is Mao Hedako. May I help you?" Mao said, using a codename.

"Yes, Mr. Hedako, I was wondering if you got a package in… A chia pet, you know, with green fuzzy hair?"

"Spike! You're alive! I can't believe it… I'll get someone to your posi-"

"Don't worry about it… meet me in a half hour by the church. I'm a bit banged up, it'll take me that long to get there."

"Ok, Spike, no worries. I'll get there."

A half-hour later, Spike waited by the church. A black car pulled up, and Spike got in. "Everything all right?" Mao asked.

"Yes, I just fell in love, and I don't want her involved." Spike looked off into space.

Meanwhile, Vicious had just showed up at Julia's apartment. "Is it okay for me to come in?" he asked.

Julia opened the door. "I'm sorry, Vicious, but I'm afraid I just am not in love with you anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I met a man… I just fell in love with him."

"Who?"

"I believe his name was… Spike."

"I can't believe this… I'll kill him!" Vicious stormed out of the room, leaving Julia to ponder if she'd just made a terrible mistake.

Vicious headed around town, alerting contacts and looking for Spike. Meanwhile, Spike had decided that life in the syndicate was no longer plausible. He'd contacted some sources and found a ride to Earth, where he could buy a spaceship. After a day of resting in Mao's office, he decided to take his leave.

"Where are you going?" Mao asked as Spike walked to the door.

"I need to tie up some loose ends."

"Come back in one piece," Mao said, assuming it to be a reference to Spike's last effort.

"I will." As he reached the door, he looked back and gave Mao a pained smile. When he closed the door behind him, he whispered, "Take care, old friend."

He walked a path to Julia's apartment, lost in his thoughts. He thought of what he was going to do, and what he was going to say to her. Around the corner from her apartment, he found a flower stand that had just received beautiful red roses. "Sir, sir, do you want to buy a rose?"

Spike looked at him. "How much?"

"100 woolongs apiece."

"Okay, I'll buy three." Spike pulled his wallet out and gave the kid 350 woolongs in trade for the roses. "Keep the difference. Enjoy it." He walked around the corner, leaving a stunned child behind him.

He opened the door and walked into Julia's apartment. "Is there a reason it's unlocked?" he asked her when he saw her sitting by her flowers.

"Vicious is going to kill you."

"What about Vicious?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah, I've known him for years."

"He… was my ex-boyfriend. I told him about you, and he said he was going to kill you."

"Julia… I… We… Vicious and I are part of an orginazation called the Red Dragon Syndicate." Julia cupped her hands on her mouth. "I'm going to be leaving, and when I do, I want you to come with me." He handed her the roses. "Will you?"

"Of course." She puts the flowers in an empty pot.

"Okay, come to the cemetery on the hill tomorrow at 8:00 am. I'm going to meet a guy at a bar near there at noon, and we can leave together." Spike left.

A man on the opposite corner saw Spike leave the apartment. "Sir, I just saw him leaving the disclosed location."

An hour later, 5 men, one with a sword at his side, burst into Julia's apartment. "Hello," Vicious said. Julia backed herself against the wall, this time in fear. One of Vicious' guards held a gun at her head. "What is wrong, my dear?" Vicious brought his hand along her hair.

"We… We're going to get away. Spike doesn't want to be around you anymore!"

"So, you were thinking of getting away." He dropped his hands to the hilt of his sword. "Understand that, if you do not kill him tomorrow when you meet him, we will kill you." Vicious raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. One of his guards left their gun on her table. The group left as silently as they had come.

The next day, at 8:00 am, Spike showed up at the cemetery. Julia was nowhere to be seen. All he could find was a single red rose, sitting in a puddle.

No one can hear you scream…


End file.
